Reflect on the question “what is fashion?” which you were originally asked to answer in Week One. How has your understanding of fashion changed since the beginning of the semester? Give one or two specific examples to explain your answer. Your example(s) can come from anywhere, but support them with at least one quote from a class reading.
In the beginning of the semester, I had a different understanding of fashion than I do now. I defined it as something that’s unique to everyone. Every person has their own style and their own experiences that shape the way the dress. I agreed with Susan Kaiser when she said that “we can no longer pretend that there is a single was of fashioning appearances in the world.” While my definition isn’t wrong, the actual definition has so much more to it than I initially thought. I always knew I could divide fashion into different categories, or different subject positions. Those categories never had concrete definitions until I learned them in this class. Having these subject positions laid out for me helped expand my knowledge of what fashion is. It was no longer about someone being unique; it became about a group of people who were unique and who could have a community to express themselves within. Another way of how my definition of fashion changed was how I never really took subcultures into consideration when I thought about the core of fashion. In my head, fashion was just fashion. Trends came and went, but I never thought about where they originated from. Learning about different subcultures throughout the semester and doing my Subcultural Brief really opened up my eyes as to how deeply I was able to research a fashion trend that I was passionate about. My knowledge of fashion has grown in tremendous ways that I won’t ever forget.
